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The last two are crucial and fundamental as they are real assets to the copyreaders."This is an accurate report/"he said In some newsrooms the small slash mark under the quotation marks is replaced with either a Vora Y .For a hyphen,place an insertion mark at the relevant place and draw above the line a Short horizontal line between the vertical lines,thus: The prosecutor said that this was not a run of the will case :Journalists should try to avoid using dashes.If,however,they must insert one,an insertion mark should be placed at the relevant place and a short vertical line, followed by two short horizontal lines and another short vertical line should be drawn above,thus: Journalists with some exception are good writers..In the print media,to insert a letter,word or phrase an insertion mark (or slash mark) is placed at the relevant point and the extra materials is written above the type,thus: "It is not true that I w/rk for Rupert".She said..To insert a full stop,place an insertion mark in the relevant place in the copy.Above the mark draw in a dot and circle it,thus: "It is over/"he said"I will go no further" Some journalists use a cross in a circle.This is probably because the Pitman's shorthand symbol for a full stop is a cross by itself..For a comma,place an insertion mark at the relevant place and draw in a comma above the line,with a small slash above it,thus; "It is over/"he said.

The last two are crucial and fundamental as they are real assets to the copyreaders.
Generally,the copyreader must have respect for the viewpoints and special problems,
of his co-workers and the reading public.As a matter of necessity he must have a
feeling for what others can and will read.He should have a sense of balance in all
major decisions he makes.Of course,cool judgement is probably the most important
of all intellectual tools.The phrase “Sub this story”means “edit the story”.
Editing Symbols
Typing Errors (known as typos):
·If you wish to capitalise a letter or word,underline it with two parallel lines,thus:
Bob hawke condemned the usa.
·To turn a capital letter (known as an upper case letter)into a noncapital (or lower
case letter),place a small slash mark through the top of the letter,to the bottom thus:
Set this in UPPER-CASB
·To delete a word or phrase,draw a horizontal line through it.If,as is usual,you
wish the space thus created to be ignored,place a bridge above and below the line to
signify that you wish the space to be closed,thus:
He says the bomb should not have been dropped.
·To take out a single letter draw the delete line vertically,thus:
Never hand your copy inn before reading it through carefully.
·To insert space between words place an insertion mark,like this between the words.
The Vice Chancellor h s warned students…
·In the print media,to insert a letter,word or phrase an insertion mark (or slash mark)
is placed at the relevant point and the extra materials is written above the type,thus:
“It is not true that I w/rk for Rupert”.She said.
·In the broadcast media,a single letter must not be inserted.The whole of the
incorrect word should be deleted with a horizontal line and the new word written out
in full above.Also,the insertion mark differs from that used in print,thus:
She said it was true that she wrked for Nupeng.
·In the haste to get a story down on paper journalists sometimes transpose letters,
words or phrases.To correct this typo draw a horizontal S around the offending
materials so that the letter,word or phrase below the S-line is placed before that
above this line,thus:
The man dead is identified as …
(NOTE:Some authorities say the S-line should be reversed e.g.for need then
becomes for need.Others say this reversal should only happen when single letters are
to be transposed.However,the subbing mark in this course will be the one above.)
·Most publications use abbreviations,particularly for titles.Some everyday
abbreviations,however,are often not acceptable in some publications.What is
acceptable and what is not acceptable on a particular publication is part of the
publication's house style.
Most publications hand new journalists a style book that contains instructions on what
is,and is not,acceptable.
A journalist,particularly one recently arrived from another publication,can make a
mistake on abbreviations.To correct this,the offending material should be circled,so
that a word that has been abbreviated will be spelt out in full,or a word that has been
spelt out in full will be abbreviated,thus:
Col Wale said Tamuno Briggs was a twit.
NEWS WRITING &REPORTING LECTURE NOTES,Complled by Mwima Mwesigwa Herbert.Mob:+256-394-823-124
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(NOTE:The rule is that when an abbreviation ends with the same letter as the full
word,then no full stop should be used.If it does not,then use a full stop,thus:
Prof.John Brainstorm criticised Dr.Jane Bookworm).
The use of numbers in copy is also subject to house style.Some have to be typed in
letters,some in figures.If the wrong style has been used,circle the offending
materials,thus:
He accused the 2 teenagers of stealing One hundred thousand shillings worth of
valuables
Punctuation Errors:While typos can be corrected in ink,punctuation corrections
should be made in pencil.This is because the sub-editors may not agree with the
punctuation.If it is in pencil they can rub out the reporter's mark.
·To insert a full stop,place an insertion mark in the relevant place in the copy.Above
the mark draw in a dot and circle it,thus:
“It is over/"he said"I will go no further”
Some journalists use a cross in a circle.This is probably because the
Pitman's shorthand symbol for a full stop is a cross by itself.
(NOTE:Use the same procedure for a colon,thus:
The University Senate decided the following students:Fortunate,Herbert,Mariam.
·For a comma,place an insertion mark at the relevant place and draw in a comma
above the line,with a small slash above it,thus;
“It is over/”he said.
(NOTE:To insert a semi-colon,use the same procedure as for a comma.
His uncles are/Baba,Shalolo,Danjuma
·For an apostrophe,use the same procedure as for comma,but place the small slash
below.thus:
A journalists/duty is to be accurate.
·For quotation marks,use the same procedure as for an apostrophe,but reverse the
double commas where necessary,thus:
?
"This is an accurate report/"he said
In some newsrooms the small slash mark under the quotation marks is replaced with
either a Vora Y
·For a hyphen,place an insertion mark at the relevant place and draw above the line a
Short horizontal line between the vertical lines,thus:
The prosecutor said that this was not a run of the will case
:Journalists should try to avoid using dashes.If,however,they must insert one,an
insertion mark should be placed at the relevant place and a short vertical line,
followed by two short horizontal lines and another short vertical line should be drawn
above,thus:
Journalists with some exception are good writers.
·Parenthesis,or brackets,should be drawn in at the relevant point,thus:
Nigerian reporters (known as pressmen)are among the best in the world.
·Paragraphs should be indicated in a reporter's copy by placing a blank line between
each paragraph.Any corrections,such as the breaking up of long paragraphs or the
combining of short paragraphs should be left to the sub-editors.
NEWS WRITING &REPORTING LECTURE NOTES,Complled by Mwima Mwesigwa Herbert.Mob:+256-394-823-124
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